An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome was diverted to a French military air base on Thursday after a bomb threat, adding another case to an unusual wave of alerts that has disrupted passenger flights across Europe this week.
Flight EI402, callsign EIN40G, was operating from Dublin to Rome Fiumicino with 151 passengers and six crew members when it changed course over France and landed at Évreux-Fauville Air Base in Normandy. Everyone on board was safe and French military bomb disposal teams began examining the aircraft.
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AirNav Radar data shows that the A320-214, registered EI-DEH, departed Dublin at 6:19 a.m. GMT. Its track shows the aircraft descending and making several turns west of Paris before proceeding to Évreux instead of continuing southeast toward Rome.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's office said it was following the situation in real time. According to French media reports, a Rafale fighter escorted the A320 during its approach to the military base.
Wave of threats across Europe
Thursday's incident came only two days after at least seven passenger flights across Europe were targeted by bomb threats in a single day. None of the searches carried out after those alerts found explosives.
The incidents affected LOT Polish Airlines, SAS, Ryanair and Wizz Air flights operating between several European countries. Aircraft were searched or diverted, airport operations were disrupted and military fighters were scrambled in some cases.
Among them was another flight between Dublin and Rome. A Ryanair aircraft operating the route on Tuesday was subject to a bomb threat and escorted toward Rome by Italian Air Force Eurofighters before landing safely. No explosive device was found.
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Another Ryanair flight, from Lisbon to Rome, was also targeted. A LOT Boeing 737 MAX flying from London Heathrow to Warsaw was diverted to Modlin, temporarily closing the airport, while an SAS flight from Copenhagen was searched after landing in Warsaw.
In Spain, a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia was inspected after a bomb alert and no explosives were found. Bulgaria also investigated threats involving flights from Bergamo and Dublin to Sofia.
The series had begun at least a day earlier. A Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was diverted to Budapest on Monday after receiving a bomb threat while airborne. Hungarian Gripen fighters were scrambled to intercept and escort the aircraft, but a subsequent inspection found nothing suspicious.
The Wizz Air case itself came only two weeks after an Austrian Airlines A320 flying from Tel Aviv to Vienna was diverted to Sofia after another bomb threat and escorted by a Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29. No explosive was found in that aircraft either.
No link established between incidents
It remains unclear whether the threats are connected. Investigators had found no immediate evidence earlier this week that a hostile state was behind the incidents, while authorities across Europe were sharing information as inquiries continued.
The concentration of cases has nevertheless drawn attention from aviation security specialists because it comes amid heightened concern over disruptive and so-called hybrid operations in Europe.
Matthew Borie, chief intelligence officer at aviation security consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions, told the Associated Press that possible explanations range from copycat threats to a single individual or group responsible for multiple alerts. He also said hybrid operations by state actors or their supporters could be considered among the possibilities.
European governments have separately accused Russia of conducting hybrid operations involving sabotage, cyberattacks, drone incursions and interference with infrastructure. Aviation has previously been involved in some of those investigations, including incendiary devices placed in parcels transported through European air cargo networks.
There is currently no evidence establishing that the bomb threats against passenger flights this week are part of those operations.
